Steve Andrews

Autism Advocate, Speaker, and Author

Steve is the Founder and CEO of Platinum Bay Technologies, a software products and services company designed from the ground up to successfully employ Autistic adults in software engineering careers at market salary and benefits.
Steve is a successful software engineer with over seventeen years of experience and is a four-time Microsoft MVP Award recipient.
Steve is a frequent speaker at over 130 events across North America and engages diverse audiences including families and individuals, educators, technology professional, and business leadership.
After discovering his own Autism at the age of 33, Steve dedicated his life to creating

Past Speaking Engagements

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Since September 2007, Steve has led 196 sessions on 82 unique talks
at 162 events in 90 cities across 33 states and provinces in North America.

Testimonials

As an entrepreneur, Steve knows it is not easy growing up different.
He is a social pioneer creating a company where [Autistic people] are welcome, and an engaging speaker who will leave you spellbound and wanting for more.
His personal story and hypotheses about Autism are a needed addition to the scientific dialogue.

Dr. Janis Davis, Ph.D, OTR/L

MSOT Program Director
Stanbridge College

Steve's perspective and personal story can profoundly impact businesses, families, students, and educators like myself.
By sharing his story, he brings the word accommodation to life like no other.
He is a voice to individuals who still feel the stigma of being different, and shows them and us that different can be beautiful and most of all very useful.

Dane Cangro

WorkAbility 1/TPP Director
Tustin Unified School District

My thanks to Steve for a meaningful presentation.
He opened my eyes to important issues that I need to recognize in my work with adult learners.
I learned a great deal and am so glad I attended.

Virginia Burrows

Director
Tustin Unified School District
Adult School

I have had the pleasure of hearing Steve share his personal journey and professional mission with both coworkers in special education, and also with the students themselves.
His presentations are extremely powerful, and need to be heard.
Thank you, Steve, for your drive, commitment and enthusiasm to [Autistic students] with untapped potential.

Julie Taylor

Education Specialist, C.L.A.S.S. Program
Capistrano Unified School District

Thank you for your wonderful contribution as our keynote speaker during Professional Development Week.
I heard from many of our faculty and staff that it was the best workshop they had ever attended!
Your perspective gave insight into what many of our students are challenged with daily.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and opening up our minds.

I was at the presentation at [Irvine Valley College] and am still in awe of your presentation.
It was everything a person who teaches community college needs to hear!
Again, thank you so much for just being you.

Angela Guevara

Assistant Professor
Coordinator of Adults with Disabilities
Santiago Canyon College

Steve delivered a motivating, heart-felt talk that helped us understand how people that lean towards the Autistic end of the personality spectrum can be a huge benefit to companies.
Steve speaks from experience and he is actively working on the solutions he proposes.
I highly recommend his talk to make each of us a better leader!

Jim Ratichek

President
Applied Process Logic, Inc.

Thank you so much Steve!
You are very generous with your time and knowledge.
It was super helpful, and I'm sure this will be a turning point for our family.
You've helped us to understand and given language to our experiences.
I can't thank you enough.

Brenda K.

Parent
Redmond, WA

The training with Steve was great and extremely informative.
The way the information was presented was very tangible and relatable to the population that we serve.
I highly recommend Steve for group trainings.
We’re looking forward to having him come out to our organization again soon!

Popular Presentations

In the United States today, workers classified as Autistic can face upwards of 80-90% unemployment or underemployment.
Yet numerous corporate case studies have shown tremendous untapped abilities and strengths among this community.
Strengths we need in our workplaces, especially in the tech sector.
From Walgreens to SAP to Microsoft, we will explore the unique challenges and benefits of inclusion in the workplace, perhaps in untraditional ways.
There are 4.7 million Autistic individuals in the United States, and they can change the way we do business.

Since starting my entrepreneurship journey, I have become fascinated with leadership principles and practices.
What is it that makes some people effective leaders, and others terrible managers?
Along the way, I’ve read countless books, articles online, and talked with numerous leaders and gleaned valuable insights.
But the greatest leadership lessons have come from my work with the Autism community itself.
Numerous corporate case studies show tremendous untapped abilities and talents among the Autism population, yet many still face significant barriers to employment in the traditional workplace.
In this talk, Steve will share valuable leadership lessons he’s learned while building an inclusive, Autism-friendly company.
There are millions of Autistic people in the United States who can change the way we do business. And they will make us better leaders along the way.

The experience of our applications is often not the first thing a development team thinks about, choosing to largely mirror the underlying complexity of the business domain.
The human beings using our applications though would rather have a feature-limited and easy-to-use application than a fully-featured hard-to-use application.
Those who fall under the umbrella of neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, et. al) perceive and interact with the world differently, and traditionally challenged software experience can be even more challenging.
Our job as software developers is to make the software as simple as possible, even if we have to do considerably more work.
That is what makes great software.
In this session we will explore software experience from a neurodiversity perspective, and discover ways we can make software more palatable for everyone.

One of the common challenges across the neurodiversity umbrella, including Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, is executive function.
Skills like time management, organizational, prioritization, context switching, and working memory all can be challenging.
In this talk, Steve explores software tools to help manage executive function challenges, helping you become more productive and get more done.

Discovering his Autism at the age of 33, Steve finally found answers to a lifetime of questions and justification for a lifetime of engagements.
Becoming his own special interest, he set out on a path of learning and discovery of everything Autism.
From classroom structure to special interests to communication, we will explore the unique challenges and strengths of Autistic individuals in the classroom.
Through telling his story, Steve will share fresh and valuable insights as well as practical advice to help you engage Autistic students to reach their potential, sometimes in untraditional ways.

Discovering his Autism at the age of 33, Steve finally found answers to a lifetime of questions and justification for a lifetime of experiences.
Becoming his own special interest, he set out on a path of learning and discovery of everything Autism.
From sensory issues to special interests to communication and social interaction, we will explore the unique challenges and strengths of Autistic individuals.
Through telling his story, Steve will share fresh and valuable insights as well as practical advice to help you engage Autistic clients to reach their potential.

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Steve's Full Bio

Up until I discovered my own Autism at age 33, I lived my whole life feeling fundamentally broken. Anxiety. Depression. Self-loathing. I struggled at home and in school, I struggled to make friends, and I struggled to cope with and understand the world around me. The discovery was truly a pivotal life moment. And the redemption is that I get to use all those experiences and hurts to advocate for a better world for all Autistic people.

That discovery brought a multitude of answers to a lifetime of struggles and to call it profoundly transformational would be a great understatement. Simply put, I had lived my life believing that I was just like everyone else – despite never fitting in, or having a single friend until high school, and being constantly bombarded by sensory overload – so everyone else must be dealing with what I dealt with, and therefore I was a failure because I had difficulty coping. Identifying my Autism transformed my perception from one of worthlessness and failure to one of remarkable success with what I have achieved given the challenges I have faced.

Today, I have been a successful software engineer for sixteen years – four-time Microsoft MVP Award recipient, former Microsoft employee, and well-regarded speaker at over 130 events across North America. But despite my accomplished career, I had faced many struggles in the traditional workplace.

As I set about to learn as much as I could about Asperger's and Autism, I have found that I am not alone. There are many Autistic people like me who face significant daily struggles, some even greater. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 68 people today are Autistic. Of those, only an estimated 56% will graduate high school, and 80-85% will be unemployed or underemployed. And yet, Autistic people tend to have incredible cognitive abilities, such as high intelligence, attention to detail, intense focus, creative out-of-the-box problem solving skills, honesty, and loyalty. These are people we should be hiring.

I have dedicated my life to creating understanding, acceptance, opportunity, and inclusion for Autistic people. I regularly engage with diverse audiences in the Autism community including individuals and families, educators, and business leaders. The clear and compelling theme through all of their stories is the need for better information, more supportive educational environments, viable career options, and available supporting services for everyone.